Dumping-car.



C. P. ASTROM.

DUMPING CAR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17. 1912.

, Patented July 18, 1916.

( 1 4 J 4701/ ATTORN EYS INVENTOR CARL P. ASTROM, OF

EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO M. H. TREADWELL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

neutrino-can.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

- Application filed September 17, 1912. Serial No. 720,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL P. ASTROM, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dumping- Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to dumping cars, and has particular reference to dumping cars used for carrying molten metal, slag cinder and the like, wherein a car body in the form of a ladle or tank is carried by a car frame mounted on trucks to and from the furnaces.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved fastening means for securing the ladle to the car frame, which permits the ladle to be readily attached and detached so that it can be moved by a crane, without loss I of time, and without danger to the workmen.

It is common practice to run the tracks near the furnaces, then to detach the ladle or car body from the car frame and carry it by a crane close to the furnace so that it can be filled with the molten material, and then carried by the crane to the car and attached thereto, the car then being pulled away by alocomotive to the place where the material is to be discharged. In such ears, the ladle is usually in the form of a cone which is supported in a yoke or bail by bolts, the bail usually being connected to a motor or gears so that it can be moved bodily and tilted to discharge the ladle. The problem of handling such a ladle, which may, when full, weigh twenty tons or more, is considerable, both on account of the weight and on account of the great heat given out, and it is desirable to provide devices for securing the ladle to the yoke which will effectively hold the ladle in the yoke and which can be quickly set and released. It

is also desirable to provide fastening devices which do not require an exact position of the ladle, as it is diflicult to swing and control a heavy ladle so that it can be accurately dropped in proper relation to the fastening devices.

According ladle fastening means, wherein one or more releasable latches are carried entirely by the yoke or ball, and are mounted thereon in such .manner as to engage suitable pr0 ec tions formed in the ladle thereby permittlng to this invention, I provide a I the ladle to be fastened in the yoke against d1splacement without requiring an exact angular position of the ladle relatively to the I ing a preferred form of the invention, taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the yoke or bail; Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the fastening devices; and Fig. 4 is a side elevation partly in section of the fastening devices taken on a vertical line at one side of the lugs 7.

1 represents the yoke or bail, formed as a ring with opposite laterally extending trunnions 2, which are supported on suitable trucks carried by the car frame, suitable gears, operating mechanism, etc., being provided to tilt and move the car body, the same not being a part of this invention and not illustrated herein, but being well known in the art, as in Patent No- 755,207.

As shown in Fig. 1, the interior of the bail is cone-shaped, as at 3, permitting the ladle 4 to drop until it comes to a firm seat on the feet 17. 5, 5 are spacing lugs which are fitted to the bail so as togive proper clearance, and to enable proper fitting of the ladle to the bail without requiring grinding of the entire ladle periphery to fit the bail. The ladle is also provided with a circumferential projection 6, which is to be engaged by the fastening devices carried by the bail.

At suitable points, the bail is provided with vertical lugs 7 carrying a pivot pin 8, on which is mounted a latch 9, the latch being provided with two holes 10, 11 through either of which a pin 12 can be inserted. To prevent loss of the pin a chain 13 attaches it to the bail, and the pivoted end 18 drops, as in Fig. 3, to prevent accidental disengagement. The latch 9 is so constructed that when swung inwardly as shown in Fig. 1 with the pin 12 through the hole 11, its inner end 14 engages the external rib 6 of the ladle, thereby holding the ladle rigidly in the bail while the car is being moved, and while the ladle is being dumped.

- When the ladle is to be detached from the bail, the pin 12 will be pulled out, permitting the'latch to drop by its own weight until the end 14 falls within the bail and entirely clears the rib 6 on the ladle, as

shown in Fig. 4, thereby permitting the the great heat the contents.

construction herein described. It is undesirable to have such fastenings-on ladles as will necessitate careful attention or exact adjustment by the workmen, on account of iven out by the ladle and ith previous ladle fastening devices, it has been necessary to bring or swing the ladle to an exact angular position and then lower it in the bail, deviation from this position rendering the fastenings inoperative. With this invention, no time is lost in angularly positioning the ladle, as the latches will engage with the annular flange at any position, and effectively secure the ladle to the bail when swung off and pinned, in any position. Moreover, the

fastening pins can be readily manipulated and upon releasing the pins to permit the ladle to be lifted out, the latches drop by their own Weight away from the flange so that they do not have to be pushed out nor memes does the workman have to pay any further attention to them as the ladle can readily lift out on account of the flange being of such diameter as to pass within the bail.

It is obvious that the invention is applicable to other forms of bails and ladles or car bodies than the ones specifically shown herein, and be within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what Iclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The combination with a ladle having an external projection, of a slotted supporting bail adapted to receive said ladle andprojection, a latch pivoted to said bail above said slot and weighted so as to normally swing inward to engage said projection when the ladle is lowered into the bail, and a pin for holding said latch in inward engaging position and outward in disengaged position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

' J. S. WOOSTER, G. N. KERR. 

